Tantalus Complex
by The Cilantro Family
Summary: The Burden, the Hassle, and the Guardian. The Executioner, the Annihialator, and the Rock. They've been running for years, and now, thanks to two strangers, they finally have a chance for a better life. People like them can't ever live happily. They knew that from the beginning. But who says they can't try?
1. The Fourth One

**So I see you found our story. Good, good. And welcome! This is the first collaborative story the Cilantro Family's ever written, and we're hoping it turns out like we planned. It should be 20 chapters total, including the little epilogue, with all the little twists and plotlines it needs. There will be drama, there will probably be triggers if you're into that kind of thing, and there will be suspense (we hope), but there will be very little romance in this entire thing (really, you have to squint to see any's even there in the first place), so if you've come for that, and solely for that, might as well get out now. We'll miss you.**

**For all of those that really, really don't like 2ps, you should know that this story has a lot of 'em. You should also know that they're not going to be the stereotypical 2p either. We can't make you like them, and we can't make you read it, but if you'll look past the fact that they're not completely canon you might just be pleasantly surprised. Give it a shot. Then chew us out in the reviews if we lied.**

**The rating's T at the moment, but we pretty much know that it'll change to M later. Mostly because of gory topics, possible triggers, and harsh language. For the moment, however, we're just sticking with T.**

**And finally, this is a sort of supernatural AU with a bunch of cameos, and both 1ps and 2ps running around everywhere. There'll be a list of characters at the end of every chapter so you know who's who, along with descriptions, details, and any other necessary things to clear up anything that was possibly confusing, without spoiling anything, of course. So that'll be fun.**

**For all of you that stuck around for all of that exposition, I'm impressed, but move on to the real reason you're here.**

**DISCLAIMER: Yea, we don't own Hetalia and all of that. If we did it would be a tear-jerker. Instead we're just taking its characters and running with 'em.**

The pasta had been fantastic.

Or he assumed it would have been, but he hadn't made it much past ordering before his brothers found him.

He'd simply wanted to get something to eat besides the TV dinners and Top Ramen they'd been living off of for months. How could they blame him? The past 4 years of their life had been spent running, sneaking, and hiding, which meant if they weren't trying to find somewhere else to stay, or running away from a mob, he was under a sort of house arrest. Lovino would wake up at the crack of dawn to leave for work, making sure Luciano and Feliciano were in their rightful places when he did so, and he locked them in, expecting to find them both there when he got back.

For any regular family it would seem ridiculous, and possibly even a bit twisted, but they weren't any regular family. They were different. Special. For them it was the best solution they could come up with. They, Feliciano and Luciano in particular, were dangerous people, powerful people. They had a touch that could kill a man and destroy a building in the most literal sense possible, so Lovino did what he could.

He knew he couldn't keep Luciano in. If the man wanted out, he would get himself out. For Feliciano, however, it wasn't as difficult. Flipping a doorknob the other way around so it locked him inside was all it took. Lovino hadn't even had to bar the windows yet. But that meant a hyperactive Italian was locked in the same house day after wretched day, with few things he could do. He went stir crazy within a week each and every time, and was bored out of his mind not long after. From there he had to get creative.

When Feliciano had finally set his sights on going to a real restaurant and eating there, he started committing his days to the cause. It had taken him two weeks just to find where Lovino stashed the extra money, a few days to find the restaurant he wanted, and another week to find the perfect time to leave. Lovino was at work, Luciano had gone off into somewhere that Feliciano didn't particularly care to know about, and there was Lovino's hard-earned money burning a hole in his pocket, stomach acid doing the same to his insides.

He had even figured out how to get out, taking Luciano's preferred form of exit; a window frame with no window in it that made escape ridiculously easy. He simply had to climb over and through the square hole and be on his merry way.

For all the work he'd gone through to get that far he wished they'd at least let him take home his meal, or sat down and joined him. It could have been enjoyable. After all, they hadn't had a proper meal for as long as he.

But, of course, it hadn't exactly ended the way he'd wished it would. His brothers had come storming through the restaurant's doors not a half an hour after he left. Lovino was pissed. Luciano was bored. Same as always, really. Except somehow the situation felt a lot more dramatic in the middle of a busy, if not fancy, restaurant.

Feliciano had bolted out of his chair, meeting them halfway, already trying to appease Lovino with excuse after excuse as he walked up to them. Before long his main goal was to just be heard over the other's angry yelling.

Then a man, one of the more ballsy workers he guessed, had walked up to the three, first going up to Luciano to ask that the two take it elsewhere, but Luciano, more content to watch the show then to listen to a pretentiously dressed waiter, sent him back a scoff and a roll of his eyes in response. So he'd gone for the next less threatening looking one, Feliciano. He placed a hand on Feliciano's shoulder, probably to get his attention to ask the very same thing, but the moment his palm had touched the slim shoulder the unnamed waiter's body went rigid before he had fallen to the ground like a marionette that'd lost its strings.

That had definitely shut them up.

The restaurant was dead silent. Even the bickering of the brothers had stopped. By the time anyone had time to react, to freak out and call for an ambulance, the three that had caused it were already gone. They didn't bother to check and see if the man was alright. They knew he was dead. They didn't wait to listen to everyone freak out. It was obvious they'd be blamed, and for good reason. It took approximately two seconds, just long enough for them to share a glance, before they turned around and left, and as soon as the door closed behind them their leisurely exit turned into a sort of marathon.

So that's what they were doing now. What they always did. Run.

Six feet pounded against the sidewalk, each one hitting the pavement at a different time. The shoes were all the same brand, the same style, and even the same size, though they were varying degrees of worn out. Lovino's nicely scuffed and scraped from days of standing and bustling around in them. Feliciano's almost perfectly new looking, even with the clean, fresh out of the box look. Luciano's were completely falling apart. The bottoms of the shoes had given up not twenty feet from the store, simply staying where they were on the ground as he took another step, so Luciano ended up running on his bare feet with a useless clump of leather covering the tops. What was left of the shoe was working on falling off in its own special way, and no one, not even Luciano, looked the least bit bothered by it.

Likely they'd have to move soon. They usually did after an incident, especially one that involved Feliciano. If they stayed they got questioned, they got suspicious, and eventually they'd get caught. It was always good for the twins. For Feliciano a new house meant new things to look at, new places to explore. For Luciano it meant new things to break, and new people to bother. But for Lovino it meant finding a new job, and a new house.

Once his legs were beginning to burn, and his throat was starting to constrict, Feliciano knew they'd been running way too long. It got boring after a while, leading to drifting minds and wavering focus from the brunette currently bringing up the rear, so there was no stopping his eyes from wandering after nearly ten minutes of putting one foot in front of the other.

He looked at anything and everything that could give him even a moment of entertainment. That weird guy across the street that was cheering them on. The mannequins with their cute little dresses and hairless, faceless heads. The prissy Pomeranian with its squeaky bark. Their wanted poster.

The first one was nothing but a blur. The word WANTED scrawled across a piece of white parchment paper in big black bold was all that he could make out. The second one, posted just a block away on the next streetlamp, he payed more attention to. So much attention in fact, that he stopped mid-step once he realized just who was on it.

"Lovino! Look!" He cried, the exclamation cutting through his ragged breaths. By now he had stopped completely, right in front of the streetlamp, waiting for one, or both of them, to humor him and check it out.

"What, Feliciano? We can't keep stopping every time you- Oh."

Beneath the black 'WANTED' there was a picture. Four boys, none over 16, stood posed against a whitewash backdrop, all dressed in their Sunday best. Though one of them looked particularly moody, and another looked more than a little uncomfortable, none of them seemed all that unhappy. Nothing like the three older versions that were crowded around it now.

"Well that's new."

Their reactions now were about as different as their expressions were then. Luciano looked like he couldn't be bothered to care. Of course he did take a second to admire the charming little him sitting on his knees up front. Feliciano looked absolutely overjoyed, though because of the picture settled in the middle of the poster, or the fact that it said they were wanted, no one could be sure. Lovino, however, looked annoyed at the fact that it existed at all, and that they'd stopped just to gawk at it. To him, it was a warning. A notice that they hadn't been careful enough, so with a hurried "Whatever, come on," he herded them away from the poster like a teacher would a couple of distracted young kindergarteners, though with harsher words and a lot less patience.

Of course, Feliciano hung back a second to rip the poster off of the light post and stuff it in his pocket.

Unknown to the three boys the same poster hung just a few blocks away, looked over and written off by everyone else that passed by. But through rivers of trooping civilians, there was one particular woman who was a little more inclined towards the accused. She had long chestnut hair and a bright magenta coat, the combination making her stand out a little too prominently for her liking. Unlike the rest of the crowds, she didn't appear to have the faintest clue where she was going. This was not her home city and like any other confused tourists, she was trying to debate on the correct route to take. There were so many people, so many streets, and so little time left. Without warning to the general public, the woman halted in her tracks just beside the wanted poster. The hoard from behind caused quite the ruckus, but they were brushed off with a wave of her hand as she broke from the busy crowd, letting them on their way.

She shook her head at the poster before her, a hand slipping automatically to her stomach. "My God. Look at that." She mumbled, gazing down for a brief second before her green gaze returned to the four boyish faces. "They look so young, don't they? Practically children." She fell silent as if she was giving her stomach a chance to speak. She then released a small laugh. "True, true. Anyway, we need to keep moving." And with her heels clicking against the city pavement, the woman strolled off, just as lost as before.

_***||* CILANTRO *||***_

Some uncertain amount of time later found the three boys taking refuge in an alley. Cluttered, dirty, and empty, as alleys usually are, they formed a circle almost perfectly in the middle. A triangle with three tangent points. For a minute the only thing that could be heard was the trio trying to catch their breath, the sounds magnified and echoing against the brick. After a minute the sound of rustling paper began to echo as well, cutting through the gasps and pants.

They hadn't stopped but a minute or two and the poster had already been pulled out of some hidden pocket and pressed against the closest wall, an olive toned hand running over it to try and flatten in out. Before Feliciano had even presented it back to the other two, he was talking about it again.

"But really, if we're on a poster that means someone's looking for us, and if someone's looking for us that means someone cares. Maybe they want to give us money or something. Or maybe we're gonna get our old house back!" Finally Feliciano turned around to present the wrinkled poster again, thinking that seeing it again would change their perceptions of it, only for it to be immediately scrutinized by his twin.

Feliciano held the paper up, a thumb almost strategically placed to cover the odd one out, the blonde's face, the picture moving around with his hand as he continued listing things. Luciano, however, was keeping his hands off. One was folded to rest on the small of his back, the other holding his chin, giving the impression of a detective who was deep in thought.

"Have I always been this handsome?"

"And see, they even got a picture of all of us. Maybe it's grandpa or something."

"Oh, no need to say anything, I know I have."

"Oh, or maybe it's Flavio! You know, he's probably been looking for us for forever! Maybe he's the one who made it, even."

"Just drop it already. Jesus Christ." Lovino cut him off before he had time to go on another long-winded ramble about the missing fourth of their quartet. And that, paired with a glare from Luciano, sent him off on a tangent matter about the thin sheet and its existence. He started backtracking, trying a different angle, and he switched the poster to the other hand in case, perhaps, the left hand could do a better job at convincing his brother than the right did. Meanwhile, Luciano simply scooted a bit towards the right and went right back to his admiring.

"Okay, but shouldn't we be concerned? At least try to figure out who wants us? By the look of the reward they want us pretty bad. Come on, Lovi."

Lovino looked at the poster for a minute before letting an irritated huff of a sigh blow a few sweat soaked strands of hair out of his face."I said drop it, it's obviously some kind of scam." He turned his back to the two as a point of ending the conversation.

When he turned around, however, he came face-to-face with something he was definitely not expecting to see. There was a long haired woman standing dead-center of their only exit, her jacket and hair were trying to follow the wind, though she had a smirk and a stance that said she wasn't going anywhere.

"Well, you boys certainly look familiar."

The two darker-headed ones stopped, stared, and formed mental battle plans, while the lighter headed Feliciano looked positively overjoyed to see a new face. As he started to lift up the incriminating wanted poster, another hand intercepted it, barely able to graze the bottom corner with his pointer finger in time, but it was enough to do the trick. The casual frame simply watched as the parchment fell to the ground in multiple nearly invisible fragments, as if the very paper itself had simply fallen apart.

"Whoops."

Feliciano huffed dejectedly at the small pile of white on the ground, sending Luciano an exasperated look before addressing the newcomer. "Well, we _were _on a poster."

Feliciano was stupidly trusting, they knew that. But somehow the thought hadn't occurred to them that he'd be so trusting as to tell a complete stranger about the nice big price on their heads. Much less someone like this woman.

There was something about her that set Lovino on edge, something that made Luciano bristle. And it was possible that the very same something was what made Feliciano even stupider than usual.

"Hm." She started, looking from the poor pile on the ground back up to the three. "It looks like someone doesn't like having their picture taken." The lady strolled a little closer to the Italians, her heels clicking the whole time, adding an intimidating sound one just couldn't get with sneakers. She walked with confidence from the spikes of her heels to the upturned corners of lips, and even though she stopped a few feet away from the three, she was still just as intimidating. She sent them a sickeningly sweet smile, which twisted into a sassier version when it was directed at Luciano. "And trust me, I can see why, sweetheart."

Maroon eyes met her gaze, challenged her, their owner standing on his tippy toes ever so slightly to try and gain some kind of height advantage. "I'm very selfish when it comes to beauty," Luciano sneered. "So you don't need to stick around."

At that, the oldest stepped in to do the big brother's job of diffusing the situation. "Ignore him. He's an idiot." He appeased, stepping just in front of Luciano with his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised. "Now, who are you supposed to be and why are we supposed to care about what you have to say, exactly?"

"My names Elizabeta. Liz works too because, really, who has the time." The woman, Liz, took a step closer, pushing a lock of chestnut hair behind her ear. "Anyway, it's nice that I managed to find you all together like this. I've been looking for you." The casual, almost indifferent air she wore should have triggered some alarms, and Lovino and Luciano's were already blaring. Feliciano's had a faulty wire.

"Hi Liz! I'm Feliciano. That's Lovino, and that's Luciano." For each name he gestured towards the respective body it belonged to, never allowing his hand to actually touch them. He shuffled forward, hazel orbs glittering with expectant hope as they looked into the mysteriously motherly green. "But why were you looking for us? Was it the poster? You were trying to find us for the reward, right? See, Lovi, I knew it meant something. See, now people are looking for us." Though Feliciano was stupidly confident about it, and he was staring at Lovino with an over-enthusiastic smile, he distinctly missed Lovino's eye roll in response.

"Well, no, but judging by that poster," Liz gestured towards the ground where the pile of mini-paper carcasses had previously been, "And by what happened to the poster, you boys aren't just out here 'cause you're playing hide-and-seek. My guess is you three are the special kind." She nodded to herself, and crossed her arms, the confident smile staying firmly in place. "I also got some good news for ya." The feminine frame leaned against the closest wall, one ankle crossing over the other. "I know a place for people just like you."

"Really?" Luciano deadpanned "We're not playing hide-and-seek?" Though the words screamed sarcasm the tone bordered more on flat, bored, seemingly uninterested in the actual words coming out of his mouth. Though the condescending undertone to it was impossible to miss. "I thought I won. Damn."

Feliciano looked terrified, panicked, and just a little bit disappointed all at the same time. His eyes darted from Luciano to Liz to Lovino, and back again, continuing the cycle as he stammered out apologies "We were playing hide-and-seek? I'm so sorry, Luci. I would've played, really, I just didn't know-"

"Yea, we're special alright," Lovino mumbled as he looked between his two brothers, but when he looked back at Liz, the stranger, his eyes narrowed and his tone shifted from exasperated to accusing, and he spat out the next question. "And we're not playing hide-and-seek. What are you talking about, creep?"

"As I said, a place made especially for people like you." She explained "You aren't the only ones around with power, you know. There are others on the run with their faces slapped on posters, who could definitely use a break. That's where this place comes in." She picked herself up from the wall, standing up strait as she tried to think of a way to describe it. "It's a…. a resort, I guess you could call it. It's down there near Królewski. You'd fit in perfect." She had been addressing all three of them, though one only heard about half of it and was already in, another seemed more interested in the ground than what she had to say, and the third didn't appear to buy a word of it. The next sentence, however, was directed almost entirely towards Lovino, death glare and all. "And I can promise you won't be hunted down anymore. They'll be safe."

"People like us," Feliciano repeated. "I like it. You know where the resort is, right? You can take us?" He didn't give the other's opinions a second thought. He barely gave his own a first. They hadn't had any semblance of safety for years, and the prospect had to be the best thing he'd heard in a while. Even better than the pasta he'd never gotten to eat. A place where everyone was like them, and everyone knew, and he didn't have to hide inside a house all the time. It made a smile brighter than the sun light up his face.

Elizabeta's smile grew, looking like she was a moment away from hugging him. "Yeah, I practically live there. I can take you now if you want." She gestured towards the street, Feliciano taking a step to follow her before Lovino chimed in.

Feliciano's naivety may have been delightful to Liz, but Lovino was having none of it. He rather pretentiously lifted a finger, succeeding in halting the conversation, and the two's movements. "Now wait a second. I'm not okay with this. We're not going. Forget it." The finality in his tone made Feliciano's smile dim, but Liz didn't waste any time for him to solidify his decision even further.

"Now you wait just a second. Feliciano obviously wanted to go, and you can't tell me you'd rather stick to running around on the streets." The way it was delivered, from her tone to the gestures she made, made it seem like this wasn't the first time she'd given this speech.

It went on like that for a while. Lovino would respond, and Liz would retaliate with points that were too good to pass up, and before long Lovino was grasping at straws.

Lovino seemed to think that they were all doing just fine how they were, and maybe it was just fine for him, but Feliciano could use a change of pace. Every day was the same. 'Don't do this, don't let your brother do that, and don't go out of the house.' He always saw the same people, the same scenery, hid from the same sirens, did the same exact thing day after day after day. It wasn't hard for the Italian to start rooting for the near-stranger to win. A resort would definitely be the most fun he's had in years. And if it wasn't it would at least be a hundred times more exciting.

Feliciano vaguely registered that Liz was a good talker. He liked her voice. But as the conversation turned into a more one-on-one affair he started to drown it out, turning instead to stare at the brownish-greenish blob Luciano was poking with his foot. He squatted down next to him to get a better view, his curiosity over the thing winning out over his need to chime in to their conversation. The thing had been alive once, that much he could tell, but it definitely wasn't alive anymore. He hoped.

"That's disgusting."

"I know right? What has this city come to? They don't even pick up garbage anymore."

The two shuffled forward, getting even closer to whatever it was supposed to be. The two near identical faces were side by side, staring intently. Luciano found a stick nearby and had taken to poking at it, watching the matter cave under the piece of wood and never bounce back. It wasn't long before they were in their own little world, completely oblivious to the heated discussion behind them, or the people that would pass by the alley and do a double take before quickly walking away, or anything really that wasn't the blob of fuzzy mush.

"What do you think it is?" Feliciano asked, leaning closer to the thing before reeling back once the smell hit him.

"I have no idea." Luciano gave it another sharp poke with the stick, rolling what they discovered to be a dead, decomposing cat over on its other side. Feliciano could feel his stomach turn with it. "You should touch it."

"Oh, ew, no." The face Feliciano made at the thought of it was almost comical. "But you should touch it."

Flipped on the other side the fur was still relatively intact, making it look less like a blob and more like a cat. The sunken in stomach and the dead, glassy eye definitely added to its maccabre appeal.

"I'm not touching it. I might get some kind of disease."

Feliciano leaned in a little closer, doing his best to speak without breathing for fear of catching whatever killed the thing. "Then why'd you tell me to touch it?"

"Are you done gawking yet? I'd like to get going before dark." Both of them turned around at the snappy tone to see their elder looking more than a little pissed off, his arms were crossed across his chest and his foot tapping out an impatient beat on the concrete. Liz, who was standing just left of Lovino, looked amused by the two, but the pride nearly radiating around her wasn't missed.

It took a second for Feliciano to actually process what was just said. At first he thought Lovino meant go home, so he stayed on the ground with a pout. It wasn't until Elizabeta rushed them with a "Hurry up or we'll miss the train," that Feliciano realized what Lovino meant. He couldn't have been happier, and he couldn't have been more impressed. Lovino didn't back down or agree with a side that wasn't his own easily. Feliciano had firsthand experience with that. So the fact that Liz was able to talk him into it was impressive, and it meant that the camp must seriously be something special. Feliciano couldn't wait.

"Wait, you're letting us go?" Feliciano bounced up, his previous obsession completely forgotten. Before Lovino could even confirm it the energetic man had already started his happy dance in celebration, and was nearly singing the next few words. "This is gonna be so cool, you'll see. It'll be fun, like an adventure!"

As Feliciano continued spouting off about how exciting it would be, Luciano stood himself up and kicked the cat into the gutter with what material was still covering his heel. He had to give it a second go after the first kick snapped the poor thing in half, but after a few failed attempts he had finally gotten it all where it belonged. Or at least where it could be more toxic. Either one was good for him.

It had taken a while but once they finally got everyone moving, they didn't stop. There was no dropping by the house to grab their most valued possessions, Feliciano being bored of his, Luciano without any, and Lovino's being a wad of cash currently snuggled in his left pocket. They didn't have anyone to say goodbye to, no pets that had to be taken care of. Lovino didn't even bother to tell his job that he wouldn't be returning. They just picked themselves up from the alleyway and left.

It was nearly a twenty minute walk to get to the train station, and the trip had been taken in relative silence, save for Feliciano's amiable chatter, and Eliza's polite responses which mostly consisted of "Mm hmm, ah, really?" Elizabeta was leading them, Feliciano skipping right next to her, while Luciano and Lovino hung back, one following boredly, and the other skeptically. By the time the train station came into view Elizabeta knew more about pasta pots, spatulas, and where you buy them than she ever needed to.

"Alright," Lovino cut in, stopping where he stood. "I hope you don't expect us to blindly follow you."

Elizabeta turned around, eyes wide and her mouth half open. She'd been hoping that was exactly what they'd do. They'd been doing it so far. "Well," She started, and she quit walking forward and turned completely around to face the other two. She looked frazzled, on edge, and more nervous than a woman as confident as she had been not half an hour earlier should. "Like I said, it's down near Królewski. We'll take a train all the way over to Demontialle and take a connecting train to Królewski itself. From there we have to walk the rest of the way. Uhm, yea." She looked around the busy platform for a moment before she spotted something and excused herself. "One minute, stay here."

The three watched as the woman walked towards what looked like a ticket booth, and put on her best smile. She talked to the man for longer than they deemed necessary to buy tickets until he fished some out and handed them to Liz, who walked away without exchanging any form of money back.

"Let's see," She took one of the slick paper strips and stuck it in her pocket before she grabbed the next one and held it out to Feliciano. "One for you, you, and that's Luciano's but I'm giving it to you, 'cause, you know, and- wait." She held one last ticket in her hand, the others having been distributed. Her mouth opened and closed, just a voice box away from asking a question before she held it back.

One hand was on her hip and the other, the one holding the slip, was waving it back and forth a bit, her eyebrows knit closely together. Liz seemed to do a mental count of everyone there, taking in a deep breath "Hey, on that poster hanging around town, there were four of you weren't there? Where's that fourth one?"

The glare Luciano gave her could melt a person's face had they been any less manly. His maroon orbs looked like they were a spark away from catching fire, and his face tilted so the light hit it in all the right ways to be menacing. Lucky for them, Liz seemed to have balls of steel when it came to Luciano, and she simply narrowed her eyes in response and looked to someone else for an answer.

They knew what she was talking about. They weren't doing a very good job at hiding that. So Liz turned her gaze to Feliciano, who was very interested in his shoes at the moment. It was as if he could feel her looking because not a moment after she turned to him he looked up, not meeting her eyes. "His name's Flavio. We don't know where he is." He replied honestly. Somehow the chipper tone he'd had when talking about pots hadn't gone away, even if it was overshadowed by something darker.

Liz's face screwed up at that, almost like a slow motion cringe. "Oh." The hand on her hip relocated to her head, rubbing at her temple in the sign of an oncoming headache, like the news had stressed her out. "Look, if you need help finding him I'd be glad to help. Do you think he's still in the town? We could go look now."

The woman almost looked desperate, and something about that pissed Lovino off. She hadn't known Flavio her whole life and lost him. She hadn't even known them a day. Yet she had the audacity to act like the news was really that troubling.

"No." Lovino answered. Eliza looked over to him, eyes wide. She opened her mouth to say something, but Lovino kept talking before she could voice it. "We're not looking for him. We wouldn't be able to find him even if we tried."

And despite Feliciano's protests and Luciano's scowl, despite the roar of the train pulling into the station, he pressed on, bringing a little more light to the matter. "He's dead."

**Feliciano- North Italy**

**Lovino- South Italy**

**Luciano- 2p!North Italy**

**Flavio- 2p!South Italy**

**Elizabeta- Hungary**

**Now, I know things are probably somewhat confusing, so we'll explain things down here. First off, they have powers, if you haven't gotten that. You should find out the specifics of that later, and all the other special people. Can't give everything away after all. **

**But if you've got any more questions, or you wanna tell us how awesome we are, or tell us how much we suck, then please leave a review.**

**Or leave one anyways.**

**You know, whatevs.**

**But we'll get back to everyone that reviews, and questions will also be incorporated into the endnote on the next chapter so other people don't have to ask it too. So there ya go. Hope you enjoyed. See ya in the next chapter. **

** -The Cilantro Family**


	2. Pavlovian Plotline

**Look at you, you've made it to the second chapter. You haven't run away screaming yet. That's marvelous. Even with the hella long wait. School started, and October started, then Thanksgiving came and everyone decided they had things to do. It's a little shorter than we'd like it to be but after all this wait, it's finally here. Do enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMER: I'm not sure if this is mandatory for each chapter, but we'd rather not be sued, so we don't own Hetalia, we don't profit from this story, and we really don't plan to (though wouldn't that be nice).**

"Oh, what now? Why's the train stopping?" An upper lip curled in distaste, possibly accentuating the beauty mark that lay just above it. "At this point we won't reach the city until morning!"

The bespectacled man across the aisle wasn't the only one complaining about the train ride, but he seemed determined to be the loudest. His words may have been directed at the sturdy blonde sitting next to him, but they were projected so the nervous employee at the end of the train car could hear every word loud and clear. Perhaps he was hoping to get his money back, or maybe he just liked to complain.

"Honestly, I didn't pay to sit here and wait while they stop for every turtle that finds its way onto the tracks. I could have walked faster than this." The blonde man beside him said nothing, simply giving him a sideways glance every once in a while, ice blue eyes seemingly amused by the passion with which he complained before they'd return to the book in his lap, and he would continue ignoring him once more.

The train didn't seem to be having a good day. From the minute the conductor had given the call of "All aboard!" the compartment door had fallen right off its hinges behind Luciano, and it had been breaking left and right ever since. More emergency stops were made that day than in the history of the company, and the crew aboard was sure they'd feel it in their next paychecks, if they got any at all.

The problem was, they didn't seem to know what kept causing the engine to break down. It had been running fine until it stopped by Carleto, the town the brother's called home until two hours ago. But ever since the passengers had climbed aboard, the train had been screaming and hissing and twisting its way off of the tracks and into the recycle yards.

Of course, they all had one man to thank for this. Luciano, who was currently sitting in the center of the aisle of the train car, blocking people from passing through, not any closer to the people he was travelling with than the insufferable man who was adamant in expressing his displeasure. When they had boarded the train and seats were chosen everyone had originally planned to sit on the same side as the man a few seats back, as the seats seemed nice and out of the way. But when they'd gone to sit Elizabeta hadn't followed, instead she chose to sit in the seats next to him, eyebrow cocked and lip curled, almost as if to spite him. Both of them seemed to be trying very hard not to look at the other, though neither moved, so eventually Liz was joined by the trio.

Of course, they were all regretting that decision now that the prissy brunette had been given something to complain about, and a reason to demand his money back for the trip. As he went on his voice became more and more passionate. He seemed to think that he could get the train to move if only it knew how inconvenienced he was by the whole fiasco.

Despite the crew's best attempts, the train wouldn't be taking another load of passengers any further than an exhibit at a museum. It was a very, very old train. The kind of train you'd expect to see puffing down the tracks at the turn of the 20th century. And for all the tales the woodwork had to tell, this routine trip was a much less exciting way to go than the trips into westward expansion.

The bulky machine, powered by coal and prayers, had been running longer than any person's been alive, but with the moaning and groaning in the old nuts and bolts, the very floor threatening to give way, it seemed like today would be its last great hurrah, if taking a routine trip from one city to another could be considered worth a hurrah at all.

Sure enough, the train was stopping, screeching to a halt that could have been caused by someone pulling the brakes, or the wheels themselves simply giving up on turning. When it finally refused to go any further the doors were opened- or the ones that could anyways- and angry passengers poured out, some afraid that the clunker would simply collapse on them, and some with bruises to justify it.

Most of the damage was in the second to last passenger car, and it was making the ugliest melody known to man, the kind that made nails on a chalkboard seem like a peaceful tune. It was a strident squeal, with a bassline of metallic creaking. Had there been some screaming to go with it it could have come straight off of a horror movie.

As soon as the three Italians and their guide hopped off of the train, following the stream of angry customers (though a good bit behind the bespectacled man from before and his blonde companion. He was already complaining to the most important looking person he could find) it stopped. It quit caving in on itself and instead chose to stay where it was a monstrous statue of a roadblock with a few new tumors and a lot less working parts.

The new silence was almost more deafening than before as all the people whose voices were projected over the strident melody only increased their volume with the new chance of being heard.

Luciano didn't seem the least bit concerned with the wellbeing of the train or its passengers. His only reaction was a slightly impressed, if not apathetic, "Did I do that?"

Feliciano, on the other hand, couldn't decide if he was disappointed, upset, impressed, or amused, and his face couldn't figure it out either. It went through a series of contorts and twitches as it tried to make rhyme or reason out of the slightly derailed, completely wrecked train before he simply settled on a confused pout.

While nobody looked particularly happy about the current situation, Lovino looked absolutely pissed, and he had no problem showing it. First he had his money stolen, then he had to search for his idiot brother all around town, then they'd had to run, which he always hated, and now, somehow, they were following this woman they'd met just an hour ago to God knows where.

And then the train to God knows where broke.

The only reason he was really here was because he knew they had to leave. This lady was just offering to get them somewhere else for free, and Feliciano seemed really excited about this "resort" they were going to. Had it been up to him they'd be hiking their way north by now. But it wasn't up to him. It hadn't been for a while.

"Well, I guess the train's not an option anymore." Elizabeta, following along the lines of Luciano, only looked slightly inconvenienced by the whole ordeal. Her hair had frizzed up, and her perfume was wearing off, but she still had the upbeat, confident way of holding herself, with the same frazzled girl hiding just beneath. "Stay here." She ordered them for the second time that day, and for the second time that day they listened.

The woman made her way over to a sharp looking man all done up in the train crew's uniform, and with the same suave style that she had used on the ticket man, she talked to him, being led over to another guy and a rather flustered looking woman that were currently talking to the man from across the aisle, who had seemed to gather a sort of mob backing him up. She looked entirely too happy to cut him off and discuss what she needed with the conductor.

It was obvious that the Liz and the brunette man had history, even if the exact history they had would be impossible to deduce. Neither had acknowledged the other aside from the occasional glance and curled lip, yet it was obvious that they were very aware of who the other was.

Eventually, after asking what she needed to ask, getting a series of answers, gestures and a finger pointed towards the forest, she seemed to finally get the answer she wanted.

After the departures, which took longer than the introductions and questions all together, she gave the conductor man's hand one last shake before she turned around and made her way back to the trio. As she turned, the brunette man called something out to her, his eyes shining through his glasses. Liz replied simply with a wave of her hand, and a smile over her shoulder.

As soon as she was within range, Feliciano asked about the man. Elizabeta simply called him an old friend and moved on, ensuring that the subject was dropped entirely.

"Alright, so we're probably only about 20, maybe 25 miles away from where we needed to go, so it looks like we'll be walking."

"Walking? 20 miles? Are you serious?" Luciano, for once, seemed to know exactly what he thought about the idea, and he definitely wasn't happy about it.

"As a heart attack."

"But I don't have any shoes-"

"Well then you'd better be careful where you step. And hey, it might even be faster than taking a train all the way down and all the way back up." Her optimistic suggestion only seemed to reach one, who was already bouncing on the balls of his feet in preparation for the trek, and she didn't waste any more time before leading them off into their journey through the woods.

Luciano continued to complain about the current state of his feet, but he was persuaded to start trudging after the others after Lovino had shot him an encouraging "Quit bitching." He was hoping that, perhaps, if he looked mopey enough, Lovino would carry him. Of course, that was as long of a shot as making it to their actual destination in a train was. It didn't stop him from trying.

Soon the deafening roar of thousands complaining at once turned into Mother Nature's own chorus of rustling leaves and chirping birds, and the man-made monstrosity turned into a collage of browns and greens. The sunlight filtered through the gaps between the trees just enough to give them ample light, but not to overwhelm them. The animals were off enjoying their freedom and preparing for the winter that was quickly setting in, and the only things to look at were each other and each similarly unique tree they passed.

Eventually Feliciano ran out of things to say, Luciano ran out of things to complain about, and Lovino had exhausted his word count before they'd even entered the forest. So it was Liz's turn to fill the silence. "Alright, let's hear it." She started, pausing slightly to put together the rest of her inquiry. "What'd you boys get saddled with? And please don't tell me it's super strength. I've seen dozens of kids with that."

When the only answer she received was the crunching of leaves beneath everyone's feet she turned around slightly to find them all looking at her like she'd spoken a different language that they hadn't cared to interpret. She paraphrased. "Your powers, what are they?"

Surprisingly the first one to answer was Luciano, brightening up and taking a few steps towards Liz. She stopped him quickly when he seemed to be going for a show, don't tell approach, her hand flying up mere inches from his face in order to get the point across. "Not you, I know what you do. You've shown me plenty."

The indignant look Luciano gave in response was one that could only be described with the words 'Fine, bitch. I didn't want to show you anyways.'

Before Luciano had a chance to do anything beyond that Lovino had stepped in, quite literally, stepping just in front of Luciano and pulling the glove off of his hand one finger at a time, securing his spot as the next- or first- to show off.

The fabric was removed long before he actually did anything, and no one said anything to try and hurry him along. He stood there for a moment, not looking at anything in particular, before his arm moved so suddenly it made Liz jump.

His hand was touching the tree, and the reaction was instantaneous. Gray matter began to spread out from his palm, going in all directions, wrapping around the tree and swirling it's way up to the branches and down to the roots, coating each in turn.

"Stone?" Elizabeta questioned, the word coming out as more of a incredulous statement than a clarification. She had taken a few steps to get even closer to the transforming object, and her hand hovered just above the stone tree, as if she was just about to touch it but was afraid to, and there was a twinkle in her eye that said she might just touch it anyways.

"Yea." Lovino responded, retracting his hand and watching the gray travel a little bit further before it slowed down and stopped entirely, leaving the top few branches untouched. "Only works on living things." He turned around completely and pulled his glove back on, flexing his fingers once they were encased in the fabric before dropping his hand and keeping it to his side in a fist.

Luciano meandered forward and leaned against the stone tree, with a smirk on his face that could be considered prideful had it been anyone else. Liz, empowered by Luciano getting to touch it first, pressed her palm against the stone bark. She ran her fingers in between the indents as if she were admiring a great sculptor's work. "Well, it's amazing."

Lovino turned, looking at Liz with an eyebrow cocked. "Not really," He responded with a smirk, giving the impression that he didn't quite believe himself. "But thanks."

"Well," Elizabeta continued, pulling away from the tree "Looks like you're up now Feliciano. Let's see it." Her green orbs found Feliciano's expecting him to be ecstatic to show off.

He wasn't. He looked from the stone tree to Liz, his expression falling like he hadn't been expecting to show off as well. When he looked away from her he became fidgety, rubbing his hands together and pulling at his clothes. His only response was a rather dumb "Um."

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad." Liz consoled, taking a step towards him

"Pft, yea it can." Luciano responded. He didn't move from his spot on the tree, but his smirk had gone away, all traces of joking gone from his tone.

Feliciano looked from Liz to Lovino, his eyes on the verge of screaming for help. The worst part wasn't that she was asking; he could always say no, and he'd have two others to back him up. The worst part was that he wanted to show her. He wanted Liz to know what he could do when he was the one picking the target, not condemning something innocent.

"Jesus," Lovino's arms uncrossed so he could scratch at a place on his neck that didn't actually itch. "Just use the tree. It's as good as dead anyways."

It wasn't until then that Liz realized there were patches of dead grass in the shape of a footprint leading all the way back to the train, or that Feliciano hadn't touched a single person since she'd found him, despite his obviously touchy nature, or that Feliciano had moved and was touching the tree towards the middle where Lovino's hand had been, and the few branches towards the top that she could see were sagging and raining down leaves. The branches shrivelled up, smaller ones breaking off completely, as the living part slowly began to sink into the stone casing like it was melting.

The dainty hand didn't pull away until there was nothing left to see but the part of the tree that had become stone, though he had quit looking at it a while ago.

She was shocked to say the least. If anything she would have expected the tree to burst into sparkles and start playing Italian opera before she expected to see the top of the great stone statue wilt away like a time lapse.

As the standing wildlife withered away before her, slowly disappearing into the stone beneath it, Liz's eyes gave a slight flicker. Almost cautiously her gaze flashed from the passive, if not guilt ridden Italian to the gray half-finished tree. Seconds ticked away and after a good hard stare the side of her lip curled upward. "Oh, you're definitely something new."

Lovino cleared his throat and made himself relevant again, trying his best to move the topic along. "So, Elizabeta," Feliciano perked up, ready to move along to whatever his brother brought up "We've shown you, now what do you do?"

The statement was more accusing than asking, but Liz payed no mind, and after an interlude of "Well,"s she finally showed them.

It happened in the blink of an eye. One second there was Liz, standing there and stalling, and the next there was a diamond woman of the same figure continuing on.

It was as if someone had carved her out of pure diamond itself, getting absolutely every detail perfect, then dressed the statue in the best clothes they could find. She was a crystal clear kind of white that danced with little rainbows when introduced to light. Sunrays flowed from in between the leaves, and sparkled against her transparent skin, giving a nice glittering effect. But where light poured in from above the stone carcass and landed against her hand it was reflected back so harshly that you couldn't look at her without feeling like an ant underneath a magnifying glass.

Only her skin seemed to change, leaving all of her clothing, including her heels, the same material that was simply donning a better model.

Lovino hated to say he was impressed. "Is that-"

"Diamond," She interrupted "Solid all the way through." She stated, matter of factly, holding up a fist and admiring the glittering rock. "Pretty right? I could practically summon a unicorn and ride off to a gemstone palace." Her light and bouncy stance quickly vanished. In the blink of an eye, green orbs flashed dangerously as they were set upon her target. A leg swung fluidly from the statue-like figure and slammed into the half-stone half-decaying tree. The gray stone casing shattered, stone fragments falling to the ground, and the pathetically withered tree inside of it simply fell over. Elizabeta turned back to the Italians, a smirk lining her features. "But pretty things can be deadly too. Sure, I can't shoot unholy elements at enemies or beat the shit out of them with super strength." She all but spit out the last two words. "But I'm about as indestructible as they come."

Luciano had moved away from his resting spot against the tree before Feliciano had begun his demonstration, but all hope of going back to it was shattered with the little stone tree bits. So he found another tree, and he zoned out for the rest of the woman's bragging session, rolling his eyes and finding more interest in some undetermined woodland creature.

The woman clapped her hands together, making a sort of clinking sound as opposed to the expected slap, and pulled her lips up into a smile, the diamond moving as easily as skin. Even her teeth were glittering, though, if Luciano concentrated hard enough, he could have sworn he saw some pink.

"Well, we should keep moving." Eliza pulled ahead again, passing through the three and right past the smashed tree as if none of it was of interest to her anymore. In passing she patted Feliciano on the head. A simple, affectionate gesture. And then she kept walking, crushing flora and microscopic fauna beneath her feet.

Feliciano looked at her like the Madonna had landed just in front of him. Perhaps she didn't realize what she had done. She had touched Feliciano and she could live to tell the tale. That was something Feliciano hadn't had the pleasure of encountering since puberty.

If Lovino had hoped to separate the three of them from her, now he was out of luck. Feliciano had found the one person in the world that could touch him, and if the sparkles in his eyes were anything to go by, he didn't plan on letting her get away anytime soon.

Lovino looked just as shocked that Liz wasn't currently flat on the ground. There was even a slight curve to his lips. Even Luciano looked a little floored, though his was masked by disappointment.

The glittering woman simply continued on, reflecting beams of light back like a humanoid disco ball.

"Are you coming?" She didn't turn back, or even look over her shoulder, but instead called back to them loud enough for them to hear, not even slowing her step to let them catch up.

The three of them quickly gathered themselves and hurried after, some hurrying faster than others, and continued as they had before. They had a long way to go, after all.

**Feliciano- North Italy**

**Lovino- South Italy**

**Luciano- 2p!North Italy**

**Elizabeta- Hungary**

"**The man across the aisle"- Austria**

"**The man across the aisle's companion"- Well now, that's a secret, but it really isn't that hard to figure out.**

**Alright now, here's a little tid-bit that'll probably be important. A pseudoscience lesson if you would. Most people probably will, and probably should skip over this, but it's here for the ones who need/want it.**

**Luciano's power, how he breaks what. It all goes by what the object is made of at an atomic level. He breaks things by, most basically, breaking the bonds in compounds. The more complicated an object is, the easier to break. It first starts by coming apart where obvious separations are. The axels on the train for instance, or the door. They simply separate. Then, once it's simply a sheet of something, the breaking becomes atomic. First, pure substances, or elements straight off the Periodic Table, can't be broken. Not ever. There's nothing to break down, and the bond is too strong to simply break it apart. However, Luciano's power will pretty much sit on top of pure substances waiting for something it can break. Alloys break a little different. They're a lot harder to break than normal compounds, but they do break, and they have the nice property of spreading Luciano's power across the alloy and all the way down to other objects that might be touching it. The train was an alloy, that's why it broke more than the floor beneath him. For everything else, namely non-metal compounds, it just falls apart into little bitty pieces of what is was, and how strong the bonds are determines how fast it disintegrates into microscopic pieces that can't be seen by the eye. Like the paper in chapter one. It fell apart at first, and after a few minutes it couldn't be seen anymore at all. All of this only applies to solids, and anything made out of water, or mainly water (AKA living things or things that were once living) is immune.**

**So there you go. A little bullshit chemistry that we use to figure out just how inconvenient Luciano's power is. Lovino didn't get that much thought. He just changes the make-up to turn whatever he touches to stone, and it'll travel from the part where he touched to the rest of the object. It only works on living things, though. At first it just coats the object, but if given enough time it'll change the make-up completely so it's stone inside and out. If it's simply coated in the stone then it can go back to normal eventually when the cells start rearranging themselves again, though they're pretty much permanently deformed. **

**Feliciano kills things, though I imagine you got that. Exactly how is a little complicated. We've thought of a toxin, an electrical impulse, a ton of stuff, but we could never really decide. So pick whichever you like. Either way, when he kills something it's not simply enough to kill 'em. It's almost like he's sucking the substance out of them. Kind of like a Dementor, if you would, though with a touch instead of a breath. **

**So, yea, that's complicated. But it's there for anyone and everyone that wanted to know or wanted to call impossible (it's probably still impossible but now it sounds more credible. We're not chemists or biologists. Just kids that think we're smart). As always, if you have any questions about absolutely anything, message us or leave a review.**

**Or leave a review anyways.**

**Or favorite.**

**Or follow.**

**Or review.**

**Or all three!**

**Or you could always, you know, review.**

**Any of the above.**

'**Till next time and next chapter**

** -The Cilantro Family**


End file.
